Self Detail using the Glen e Method
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Thanks Ed - again nice talking to you to lay out the plan....looks great
anyone who wants the method - which is EASY - just email me - no PM's [email protected]
ALL products from the majors are good these days, no one has a "superior" set of chemists.....--->it's the procedure that counts...no need for multiple layers of stuff, and taking "all day" - just a 3 hour - 3 step procedure gets you durability and glass type gloss for many months...
anyone who wants the method - which is EASY - just email me - no PM's [email protected]
ALL products from the majors are good these days, no one has a "superior" set of chemists.....--->it's the procedure that counts...no need for multiple layers of stuff, and taking "all day" - just a 3 hour - 3 step procedure gets you durability and glass type gloss for many months...
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What prior experience is required?
LOLWax on, wax off.........
Sorry, couldn't resist
it's not a "double secret probation" method, just "fine polish/paint prep" the car before you wax/seal it....most don't do that...
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10,544 Posts
No. We rarely washed them, and never waxed them.
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115 Posts
Glen, for someone that is new to using a polisher, which would you recommend. I like the Adams but dang, it is a bit costly.
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366 Posts
Just finished my Glen E detailing job!
Kinda feel like a cigarette, if you know what I mean ;-)
Thanks for all the great advice and recommendations glen!
MrG 69
Enjoying every mile in my CGM/Kalahari 7sp Z51 2LT Coupe w NPP, Nav, CF Mirrors/Spoiler and BC Roof
** Sent from mobile using Corvette Stingray Forum App **
Kinda feel like a cigarette, if you know what I mean ;-)
Thanks for all the great advice and recommendations glen!
MrG 69
Enjoying every mile in my CGM/Kalahari 7sp Z51 2LT Coupe w NPP, Nav, CF Mirrors/Spoiler and BC Roof
** Sent from mobile using Corvette Stingray Forum App **
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115 Posts
Thanks, just ordered one.
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110 Posts
Testing Glen_e's method on my 2008 Jeep Wrangler prior to getting going on Kate. Glen was kind enough to send me the link to all of his instructional information, and I dropped about $330 on supplies. I thought I would get familiar with the tools and techniques prior to calling Glen and having a discussion, since I didn't want to sound like a noob. First victim: My daughter's daily driver, a 2008 Jeep Wrangler with 70k miles that has been neglected for a while, and has seen some abuse crashing through brush, as well as getting parked outside all the time. Since she's got one windshield wiper she nicknamed "Cthulhu" due to the wicked looking rubber tail it drags across the windshield (fixing that today, btw) I figured I couldn't go wrong with a polish and seal, even if I made a few mistakes.
From AutoGeek I bought the Meguiars G110V2 dual action polisher, and watched the video Mike Phillips sent with it. Also got the Blackfire Total Polish and Seal and Blackfire Crystal Seal. Got the Nanoskin Autoscrub synthetic clay bar and Guzzler waffle weave drying towels and went to the local hand car wash. Soaped the Jeep up and used the clay bar to get off all of the contaminants. Dried it off with the Guzzler. Both great so far. From microfibertech.com I ordered a 10 pack of the 530 gsm MF towels and some cleaning solution for the washing machine.
After watching the video about using the polisher, I figured I was ready to try it out. There are many warnings on the video about making sure you don't turn on the polisher without the foam pad down on the car so you don't sling product all over the garage. "Who could be that stupid?" I thought. I primed up the foam polishing pad with polishing compound (used Turtle Wax, because that's what I had in the garage), put the pad on the Jeep and turned it on. Nothing. Oh yeah, forgot to plug it in. Yes, you can see it coming. Set down the polisher and plugged it in to the extension cord. Of course, it was still turned on, upside down on the garage floor, and it soon slung polishing compound all over the garage, the Jeep and Kate (my 2015 AW Z-51). Crap!! OK, I got this.
I taped down the middle of the hood so I could get a good before and after shot for you guys, and show my daughter what it looks like to keep your car in good shape. Then I did the compound with the polishing pad, Blackfire polish with the finest pad, and Crystal Seal on half of the hood.
![Jeep Detailing 1.JPG]()
What a huge difference!! This technique really makes even an old machine look like new. The compound removed most of the swirls, tree branch scratches, and auto car wash brush marks. You can see an even bigger difference in this photo.
![Jeep Detailing 3.JPG]()
Being the jealous girl that she is, and being photogenic, Kate managed to get her rear end into this photo.
After I did the other half of the Jeep hood, I noticed that there were still more swirl marks that I hadn't noticed before, so I backed all the way up to the beginning, got out the cutting foam pad (the most aggressive one I had ordered) and tried to get the swirl marks out. Huge success. Looked so nice, I went ahead and did the whole thing with this pad, then moved to the polishing pad with more compound, then went to the fine pad with the BlackFire polish, then the Crystal Seal. I won't have to do all of these steps on the Corvette of course, but I feel now that I've got enough "stick time" behind the polisher that I can have an intelligent conversation with Glen. Thanks so much, Glen! More to come as I keep honing my skills on my wife's 2010 Camaro RS (Victory Red with the Silver Stripes) and the 2012 Buick Enclave (banished to the driveway to make room in the garage for Kate and the Camaro).
From AutoGeek I bought the Meguiars G110V2 dual action polisher, and watched the video Mike Phillips sent with it. Also got the Blackfire Total Polish and Seal and Blackfire Crystal Seal. Got the Nanoskin Autoscrub synthetic clay bar and Guzzler waffle weave drying towels and went to the local hand car wash. Soaped the Jeep up and used the clay bar to get off all of the contaminants. Dried it off with the Guzzler. Both great so far. From microfibertech.com I ordered a 10 pack of the 530 gsm MF towels and some cleaning solution for the washing machine.
After watching the video about using the polisher, I figured I was ready to try it out. There are many warnings on the video about making sure you don't turn on the polisher without the foam pad down on the car so you don't sling product all over the garage. "Who could be that stupid?" I thought. I primed up the foam polishing pad with polishing compound (used Turtle Wax, because that's what I had in the garage), put the pad on the Jeep and turned it on. Nothing. Oh yeah, forgot to plug it in. Yes, you can see it coming. Set down the polisher and plugged it in to the extension cord. Of course, it was still turned on, upside down on the garage floor, and it soon slung polishing compound all over the garage, the Jeep and Kate (my 2015 AW Z-51). Crap!! OK, I got this.
I taped down the middle of the hood so I could get a good before and after shot for you guys, and show my daughter what it looks like to keep your car in good shape. Then I did the compound with the polishing pad, Blackfire polish with the finest pad, and Crystal Seal on half of the hood.
What a huge difference!! This technique really makes even an old machine look like new. The compound removed most of the swirls, tree branch scratches, and auto car wash brush marks. You can see an even bigger difference in this photo.
Being the jealous girl that she is, and being photogenic, Kate managed to get her rear end into this photo.
After I did the other half of the Jeep hood, I noticed that there were still more swirl marks that I hadn't noticed before, so I backed all the way up to the beginning, got out the cutting foam pad (the most aggressive one I had ordered) and tried to get the swirl marks out. Huge success. Looked so nice, I went ahead and did the whole thing with this pad, then moved to the polishing pad with more compound, then went to the fine pad with the BlackFire polish, then the Crystal Seal. I won't have to do all of these steps on the Corvette of course, but I feel now that I've got enough "stick time" behind the polisher that I can have an intelligent conversation with Glen. Thanks so much, Glen! More to come as I keep honing my skills on my wife's 2010 Camaro RS (Victory Red with the Silver Stripes) and the 2012 Buick Enclave (banished to the driveway to make room in the garage for Kate and the Camaro).
Nice - you just discovered the power of an orbital...why an orbital vs by hand? Because the hand cannot move at 1500 rpm.....and that's where the secret in getting gloss really lies, not in the "best wax" from zaino, adams, blackfire etc...they really mean nothing......
call me if you need me...a great job of reading and researching and learning....it only gets better from here....
call me if you need me...a great job of reading and researching and learning....it only gets better from here....
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398 Posts
Pappy. What a great read. I think I'll try the same thing. Do a run on the truck to get the technique down and the confidence up, then move on to the real jewel. Practice makes perfect. And by the way, couldn't stop laughing from the "who could be that stupid" comment until the part about showering the place with polish when the polisher was plugged in. OMG. You are a very honest and transparent man not afraid to share his experiences. Good and bad. But mostly I learned ALOT, and I really appreciate the post. Thanks. ?
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178 Posts
I ordered all the wash mitts, MF polishing and drying towels today. Expecting most of the other materials on Glen's shopping list to be under the tree in a few weeks! Can't wait to give the car its first solid polish and seal.
The wife is having the plumber add a hot water feed/mixer into the garage hose bib to extend the cold weather washing season.
Can't wait to give the car its first solid polish and seal.The wife is having the plumber add a hot water feed/mixer into the garage hose bib to extend the cold weather washing season.
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110 Posts
A little Memorial Day weekend detailing - Camaro style
I've been itching for good weather and a nice long weekend to get to the badly neglected finish on my wife's Camaro. Just like I did on the Jeep Wrangler (see post above in this thread), I set aside a lot of time, got all my material in place and stretched out the back and shoulder muscles. The pictures that follow are the result of about 7 hours of work yesterday. That's not an insignificant time commitment, but it gives me lots of time to think, listen to a baseball game on the radio, and keep the wife happy. She's out of town, so she left her 2010 Victory Red Camaro RS here for me to detail. I took some before and after pics, using the same aperture and F-stop, and at the same time of day, and tried to maintain the same angles so you could really see the difference.
View attachment Camaro Hood Refinishing.jpg
The hood wasn't too bad, but I think the silver stripes tend to cover up many of the flaws and scratches. It still looks a ton better.
View attachment Camaro Roof Refinishing.jpg
The roof was where this car really needed some work. Some idiot (uh...) had parked this car under a large tree during a tailgate party at a college football game. Hours of tree branch scraping later from the wind blowing the trees around really created a mess near the XM antenna. For this part of the job I switched pads to a Lake Country orange pad and the Blackfire SRC Compound. I really like the combination, it removes swirls and scratches easily. I wish the Lake Country pads had the same indentation in the back as my Meguires pads where my Meguires backing plate fits into. When you hit a spot on the car that the flat 6 inch pad has to curl around, the pad has a tendency to go whipping off the backing plate at 1500 RPMs, roll across the driveway, and go shooting into the neighbor's yard. Go ahead, ask me how I know this.
View attachment Camaro RQP Refinishing.jpg
View attachment Camaro FQP Refinishing.jpg
The rear quarter panel and the front quarter panel showed lots of improvement as well. Of course, Kate had to get into the picture at least once. There she is in the garage.
On the entire car, I used the light cutting pads with the Blackfire SRC, the finishing pad with Blackfire Total Polish and Seal, then a fine microfiber pad by hand with the Blackfire Crystal Seal. Wheels, rims, Poorboy's interior finishing, etc. Whew! Here's a look at the final product. I think he looks as good as new!
![IMG_4875.JPG]()
I've been itching for good weather and a nice long weekend to get to the badly neglected finish on my wife's Camaro. Just like I did on the Jeep Wrangler (see post above in this thread), I set aside a lot of time, got all my material in place and stretched out the back and shoulder muscles. The pictures that follow are the result of about 7 hours of work yesterday. That's not an insignificant time commitment, but it gives me lots of time to think, listen to a baseball game on the radio, and keep the wife happy. She's out of town, so she left her 2010 Victory Red Camaro RS here for me to detail. I took some before and after pics, using the same aperture and F-stop, and at the same time of day, and tried to maintain the same angles so you could really see the difference.
View attachment Camaro Hood Refinishing.jpg
The hood wasn't too bad, but I think the silver stripes tend to cover up many of the flaws and scratches. It still looks a ton better.
View attachment Camaro Roof Refinishing.jpg
The roof was where this car really needed some work. Some idiot (uh...) had parked this car under a large tree during a tailgate party at a college football game. Hours of tree branch scraping later from the wind blowing the trees around really created a mess near the XM antenna. For this part of the job I switched pads to a Lake Country orange pad and the Blackfire SRC Compound. I really like the combination, it removes swirls and scratches easily. I wish the Lake Country pads had the same indentation in the back as my Meguires pads where my Meguires backing plate fits into. When you hit a spot on the car that the flat 6 inch pad has to curl around, the pad has a tendency to go whipping off the backing plate at 1500 RPMs, roll across the driveway, and go shooting into the neighbor's yard. Go ahead, ask me how I know this.
View attachment Camaro RQP Refinishing.jpg
View attachment Camaro FQP Refinishing.jpg
The rear quarter panel and the front quarter panel showed lots of improvement as well. Of course, Kate had to get into the picture at least once. There she is in the garage.
On the entire car, I used the light cutting pads with the Blackfire SRC, the finishing pad with Blackfire Total Polish and Seal, then a fine microfiber pad by hand with the Blackfire Crystal Seal. Wheels, rims, Poorboy's interior finishing, etc. Whew! Here's a look at the final product. I think he looks as good as new!
Very odd about the pad...never have had one spin off like that. I would check to see that both Velcro surfaces are clean and brush themboth. If still a prob, see the seller as that should not happen no matter what surface feature you polish over. Whats the speed setting you are using?
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110 Posts
I'm using the speed setting of 5. This particular incident happened when I was turning the corner at the bottom, down by the rocker panel. Thanks, i'll try your suggestion to clean the contact area.
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